WWI Army Transport Funeral Ships

Michael Kokoska

Military research, like genealogical research, is never finished. There is always one more source that turns up when you least expect it. Sometimes a soldier who is long passed even shows up to say, ‘Hey what about my memory and service?’

When I researched the service of my great grand uncle, Michael Kokoska several years ago, for my book Stories of the Lost, I had not located the ship manifest for the USAT Wheaton, the Army Transport Funeral Ship, on which Michael’s remains sailed home from France in 1921. Michael died in 1918 and was buried overseas until remains were repatriated after the war.

After both World Wars, remains were not repatriated, or brought back to the U.S. from overseas until 1920 after WWI and 1947 after WWII. Soldiers were buried near where they fell in one of the many temporary cemeteries (if they were recovered.) Those discovered after the war ended were often temporarily buried until the government gave the family the option to choose to either repatriate the remains or leave them overseas to be buried in an American Military Cemetery. There were a few other options but those two were the primary.

War dead being placed on USAT Funeral Ships

Ancestry.com has a database online called the U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939. If you do a search for Michael Kokoska, you will find three entries (one is a duplicate). Michael departs from Hoboken, NJ in 1918 on ship No. 39, with the 32nd Division to head overseas. They disembarked in Brest, France.

Michael returns in 1921 on the USAT Wheaton from Cherbourg, France to Hoboken, NJ. He is listed on this passenger manifest with a name, unit, serial number, and the address of his next of kin. His father, Joseph Kokoska in Chicago.

Michael is dead. His remains which are being returned to the U.S. after the war.

Soldiers whose remains were repatriated, were listed by their name on a ship manifest to retain their dignity. The men who gave their lives were not just put on a ship unnamed with no honor or respect. Their caskets were placed in shipping cases, covered with the American flag, and carefully placed in the ship’s hold for transport from the theater of war to the U.S.

How do you know if a soldier is living or deceased?

It appears in this database that deceased soldiers are listed by name, rank, ASN, unit , cable reference number and a code after. But there is nothing that specifically says deceased soldiers from what I could see. In tiny print at the top of the manifest under #2 it talks about a code for the sick or wounded or deceased, etc. but the code is not specifically listed on each manifest page. Michael’s manifest looks different from his brother Albert’s. Keep reading to see both examples.

It is extremely important that researchers understand what they are looking at. It is so easy to find a record, click and add it to your family tree without really looking at it. Just because your soldier’s name appears on a ship manifest, does not mean he is still alive.

Comments

Hello Jennifer,
Thank you so very much for this article. My husband has been researching his great uncle who was killed in France in WWI and we have been diligently trying to find out if his body had ever been returned to the U.S. or if his grave marker in the cemetery in Nebraska, was just that – only a marker. Long story short, his great uncle was returned on the same ship as your Michael, only on a different date. When looking at the ship manifest, we discovered that at the very beginning of the manifest, there are header pages that state that the “passengers” were deceased, except for the crew. We are very interested in finding out more about how the whole process took place and will order “Stories of the Lost” for kindle.
Sincerely,

My great uncle Richard DeWees of Kentucky had been working in Hamilton, Ohio when he enlisted in 1917. He was died of wounds on September 28, 1918 in the battle of the Argonne-Meuse. He, too, returned on the Wheaton which left Cherbourg on May 1st and docked in Hoboken on May 18, 1921 after also docking in Antwerp to load additional deceased personnel. In looking at the ship’s manifest, if you go back to page 305 you will find the name of crew members assigned to the ship: 1 embalmer, 1 civilian employee, 4 checkers, and 1 conveyer. Page 306 has a hand written note “List for Deceased”. Pages 311-320 contain statistical information for those loaded at Cherbourg and Antwerp. Pages 321-453 lists the names of deceased personnel returned on the Wheaton. Richard is # 624 on page 399 of that list.

Would you by any chance know what the Cable Reference Number and Code Number means? I have looked it up and spent a lot of time trying to figure it out and the paragraph at the top doesn’t describe this particular passenger list (funeral/repatriation), and I noticed that some of the numbers are similar so they must mean something? I have looked in every Army Transport manual and everywhere else I could think…

I too would like to thank you for this post. My Grandma’s first cousin, John Charles Londraville, was killed in France, in 1918, and his body returned home in 1921. I also found a copy of the U.S.A.T. Wheaton manifest on Ancestry listing his name.

Happy it contributed to your research Tony! If you are interested in obtaining his records, burial file, and other documents and cannot go to NPRC yourself to do the research, feel free to email us to discuss a research project. info@wwiirwc.com
Jennifer